Those Far Off Horizons
by WhatIsUnImAgInEd
Summary: "Now luv," he began with that rougish Captain Jack Sparrow smirk. "Hows about ye tell Uncle Jack why you're sitting round with a long face when there are festivities to be had, plunder to be indulged in and more importantly rum to drink?"
1. Thine heart the traitor

(_Takes place in the in between period of COTBP and DMC. Let's say a few days after they lose Norrington in the hurricane_.)

There was a celebration aboard the _Pearl. _The rum and food was all abound as the crew celebrated yet another smooth raid on the unsuspecting Spanish. This time it was a Spanish fleet just off the coast of northern Hispaniola the ships had been heavy with silver and doubloons intended for the shores of Spain. The attack was but a matter of lying in wait for the opportune moment to pounce and overwhelm the well-guarded ships. The battle itself had been fierce but short-lived as the captain of both ships were singled out and overwhelmed.

All of the crew except for one Anamaria and including the captain all flurried about deck, currently in a rum drinking circle at which the center stood Captain Jack Sparrow playing the part of the alluring storyteller holding his audience helplessly captive. It was clear to Ana as she glared at Jack as he spoke with more than his usual amount of exaggerated, flapping gestures as he told what was sure to be another Jack Sparrow folktale.

"So there I was mates, with not a single shot in my flintlock and 'eld captive by some ancient tribe people and the curse of Quezelaque bearing down on me 'ead and-" Jack's voice carrying over to her only confirmed her suspicions and Anamaria rolled her eyes pulling her knees closer to her chests and scowling. At that moment Jack looked up, meeting her eyes and the grin on his face matched the frown on her own before he turned back around to finish his story.

The next time she looked up he was standing, bottle of rum in hand and making his unsteady way in her direction his arms held wide in greeting. There was no time to run.

He plopped down next to her in his careless manner one arm raised as to not spill the rum and the other slipping around her shoulders. "Now luv," he began with that rougish Captain Jack Sparrow smirk. How she wished she could hate him. "Hows about ye tell Uncle Jack why you're sitting round with a long face when there are festivities to be had, plunder to be indulged in and more importantly rum to drink?"

Anamaria smirked knowing she should probably shove his paws off of her and send him off with no doubts as to what he _wasn't _going to get from her anytime soon. But she didn't want to. Even if his leg was pressed against hers and he was leaning much more closely into her than he really needed to.

"Your lady and I were having a very interesting talk as it were Jack." She patted the deck of the _Pearl _and his brow furrowed in a way that she begrudgingly found becoming. Jack grunted and tossed back the bottle, running his sleeve over his chin before he responded "Don't know how I feel about tha' luv. Can't be a good thing for a man when the two lasses in his life get together to talk behind his back."

She could tell by the light in his dark eyes that he meant it in jest. The next time he lifted the bottle she snatched it before it could reach his lips and took a swig. She liked the way the rum was warm as it ran down her throat and instantly heated the rest of her up. "Maybe not if the man is Jack Sparrow."

Jack leaned back and propped himself up on his arms, watching her quietly although that strange little closed-lipped smile was on his face. "Ye forgot the 'Captain' darling."

Anamaria nestled the bottle on her lap, grinning at the way Jack squirmed as he noticed the fact that she and his rum were getting comfortable and she was not handing it back to him as he no doubt expected. "No, I don't think I did" she quipped, tilting her head and undoing the thick braid that had been binding her hair all day. The wavier than usual hair fell down about her shoulders, ends waving in the miniature breeze that licked the _Pearl. _

Jack's lips had parted slightly, he found the simple scene very sensual. "It hasn't escaped me notice that ye still 'aven't answered the question." He was unable to resist reaching over to touch Ana's midnight dark hair, running it through his fingers.

Anamaria sighed lightly, tilting her head to look at him as well as allow him more of her hair to pet. "Have you thought that's because I don't want to, Sparrow."

Jack never paused at the sarcasm that touched her words, his fingers still toying through her hair "Might 'ave crossed my mind" he murmured "But hearing ye say it puts it all in a brand new perspective."

A quiet fell between them then, not an uncomfortable one. Anamaria leaning unconsciously into Jack and his fingers massaging her scalp, twirling her hair and platting some strands into braids not unlike the ones in his own hair before deftly undoing them. She was growing more relaxed, sleepy under his ministrations.

"Jack" She said at last quietly "Do ye think the horizon will always be the life for you?" She didn't know why she expected him to say anything other than what she already knew.

"Till my dying day luv." Jack's voice had dropped a few octaves and she couldn't help a small shiver as his breath brushed her skin. Anamaria grabbed the bottle and took a swallow so long that instead of a pleasant heat the liquor burned her throat and when she next spoke her voice was hoarse and barely audible "I don't think it is, for me."

That stilled Jack for a moment although his next words scorned her heart. "To each his own…or her own as they say."

Ana scoffed and straightened, widening the distance between them and causing her hair to slip from his hands. "Aye, to each his own." She all but shoved the rum into his chest.

Her annoyance only increased when he mimicked her movements, following her and they ended up even closer than before. Anamaria shot Jack a dark look which he met with an innocent one of his own. He was frowning again. Stupid git.

"I'm having a thought here." He began and that only furthered the warning in Anamaria's expression, at her side her hand twitched. Jack held up a finger and placed it to his chin in a mockery of contemplation. "And that thought is- why is one of the best members of me crew and damn near one of the most fearsome pirates, an' lass fer that matter I've ever met; suddenly having second thoughts on her career choice? Which is most fruitful right now, may I add."

Anamaria found that she couldn't meet Jacks eyes, those eyes that were passing over her with a questioning made all the more intense by the kohl outlining them. She was surprised by the unexpected praise although her greater emotion won out.

"Jack- I'm a woman."

"Something I've always liked about you darlin'"

That earned him another glare. Jack pressed his palms together prayer style and held them to his lips, gesturing for her to go on.

"Point being that it's not the same for me as it is you. I want-" here Anamaria paused, finding it difficult to put her thoughts and feelings into words. And to Jack especially. "I want a _life _someday Jack, and facing the facts it might not be one on the seas. Or at least not here on the _Pearl._"

Gods, when exactly did she decide to say all this? Clearly she hadn't had enough rum to addle her brain. Anamaria reached out for the bottle held now loosely in Jack's hand but he evaded her grab. He was looking at her as though he thought his drunkenness was playing tricks on him.

"Life out 'ere is freedom, Anamaria. Aboard the _Pearl _you have more than you ever would 'ave on land. Or are you just not happy here anymore and it just failed to come to me notice?"

Anamaria sighed choosing to stare longingly at the rum that offered comfort that Jack was denying her. "I have to make me own way, Sparrow. While I still know that I can." Her attention fell down to Jack's wrist where she knew his brand to be, hidden beneath a billowy sleeve and she knew he saw her do it.

"_The Black Pearl_ is a beautiful ship, crewed by fine men but she belongs to her captain. I need me own ship." Anamaria looked squarely at Jack as she brought up the old argument, a bit of stubbornness crossing her features.

A touch of a smirk crossed Jack's face "Luv, if you're telling me that getting your own ship will see you lost from the _Pearl_…ye'll never get that bloody ship."

He might sound amused but Anamaria knew he meant it.

"Jack Sparrow!" She screeched, pointing her finger in his face and earning them a look from the crew who were still making jolly not far down the deck. "Ye promised me that ye would get me a ship!"

Jack grinned, gold teeth aglitter. "Aye I did promise. If there's one thing Captain Jack Sparrow doesn't go back on it's a promise. And as I recall, I did give ye a new ship. A fine navy vessel, as it were."

"The _Interceptor_ was sunk by the _Pearl_!" Anamaria snarled, narrowing her eyes at Jack who was looking more amused by the second.

"Mighty unfortunate that." Jack drawled, leaning back and his hands narrating through the air lazily "I'd say t'was the fault of her captain that she was sent to the depths"

Anamaria stared at him, slack jawed with disbelief. "Ye still owe me a ship!"

"Maybe. But I'm not seeing 'ow that is profitable to me. You see, if I do commandeer a ship for ye I'd be losing a valuable member of me crew and walking away from that deal none the richer."

"Furthermore-" Jack added suddenly, sitting up so that he and Anamaria were nearly nose to nose "Seeing as ye have no intention of remaining pirate I don't see why ye'll need a ship anyway."

Jacks eyes were bright with challenge, boring into her own. Anamaria tilted her chin ready to debate her cause when Jack moved even closer to her, his lower body proportionate over her own and arms on the ground on either side of her waist. She never got out a word because Jack's lips were over hers in a kiss, their softness contrasting with the scratch of his whiskers.

He tasted of rum and Anamaria imagined that she did too. She was unable to help herself and traced his bottom lip with her tongue before common sense caught up with her, along with the catcalls from the crew and she pulled away.

Anamaria, her face hot with embarrassment flipped off the crew a flurry of curses in her native Spanish flowing from her tongue and when she turned back to Jack he was as cool as ever, the corner of his mouth twitching in mirth. He had the nerve to wink at her. Her hand ached to slap him.

"Why in the bloody hell would ye do a thing like that in front of them!" Anamaria ranted at him her fury increasing when he actually laughed at her.

"Can't understand a single thing you're saying, Ana."

Ana realized that she had still been speaking in Spanish without realizing it and she flushed again before reverting back to English.

"Sparrow…what-"

"Something I just had to do, considering you're set on leaving the _Pearl." _

Jack began to slur his words together, hands gesturing with their usual mania "No regrets, take what ya can, give nothing back and all that."

Quick as a cat Jack was on his feet and he took of his hat, pressing it to his chest with a flourish as he bowed to her "And now m'lady I must go. I'm all out of rum!"

To emphasize his point Jack shook the bottle upside down and a single drop of the amber liquid spilled onto the deck. "And that's _Captain _Sparrow to you, my dear." And with that he was off, sashaying across the deck as quickly as he'd come.

Anamaria was left sitting there trying to keep up with all that had been said, and unsaid between them if one was to be really honest. She could still feel the phantom brush of his mouth over hers, the idiotic, infuriating git! Anamaria decided to retire to her hammock for the rest of the afternoon, _after _she swiped a bottle from Jack's rum stash in his cabin of course.

She wished with all her soul that she could hate him.

…But her heart was starting to believe that she loved him.

(_Did you like? As this is my very first POTC fic and my very first try at Jack/Ana a fairly underrated coupling that owns my heart feedback would make me happy. But if you just decide to silently and anonymously like this story that works too, I guess. Should I continue?)_


	2. Stirrings

(_The follow up to Part I. Doesn't have the same light-hearted humor but does contain some Jack quirkiness_.)

This would never do. The fast few days Captain Jack Sparrow had been terribly, distracted for lack of a better word. All of these odd _feelings_ and _thoughts _had been swimming about in his brain and taking root there, refusing to leave no matter how much rum he drunk in order to drown them out. And it could be trusted that he had drunk a lot of rum. He preferred to call them Stirrings as to refer to them as anything else would be far too womanly and while (and he was reluctant to admit this) womanly may be one the way some of his acquaintances may describe the quirks of the pirate captain it was not a way he was fond to look at them himself.

It was all that wicked wenches fault! Jack had traced back the time when the Stirrings had first began and he could conclude that they had sprung up with that impromptu kiss he and Anamaria had shared on the deck a few days prior. In hindsight he supposed it hadn't been the most clever thing to do to kiss her out on deck with his entire crew as a witness but he was Captain Jack Sparrow, she had been on _his_ ship, rum had been warming his blood and taking all three of these things into consideration he could do as he damn well pleased!

But then the next day once everyone had sobered up Jack had been at the helm when Anamaria had crept out of her cabin and almost at once shifty glances and smirks were exchanged among the crew although to give the lass credit she ignored it all for the most part and stared down anyone who looked her way for too long. One sailor was actually either brave enough or an idiot enough to mention it to her and he was quickly put back to his place with a few sharply spoken words and an even sharper first.

That's when Jack had jumped in "Anamaria, luv! I know that he was out of bounds but I can't 'ave you bangin up me crew!"

"Well then tell your crew to watch their tongues, less they want to find a cutlass so far up their arse they lose it. Savvy?" Anamaria had shot back at him, smiling sarcastically as she tossed his own phrase at him.

"Just a suggestion, Captain Sparrow." Anamaria had caught herself a moment later and turned her back to go on with her duties. Sometimes it astounded even him how much Anamaria could get away with and he felt a glow of what felt suspiciously like admiration and pride.

"Ah Anamaria, what lovely images your words paint." Jack had remarked sarcastically watching the sway of her retreating backside. He caught himself doing that quite often throughout the day and while that wasn't really anything new itself once she had caught him looking and the look she sent his way had him thinking that he might be joining Will Turner in the ranks of eunuchhood soon.

Other than that encounter he hadn't seen much of Ana and he suspected that she had been spending much of her time either belowdeck in the crews quarters or in her cabin whenever her work allowed her to be. And it seemed as they neared day three that the less Jack saw of her the more the questionable feelings…._Stirrings _rose. And so this day Jack had resigned himself to put an end to it.

Right at dusk Jack had been nursing his second bottle of rum for the day and so had almost missed Ana making her quiet exit to the stern of the ship. Jack had leaped up from where he had been sitting with Gibbs on a barrel by his cabin and staggered across the deck to intercept her.

And intercept he did, planting himself firmly in her path and flashing a grin at the annoyed look she sent him.

"Whatever it is ye 'ave to say I don't want to hear it, captain." Ah. So they were on formalities were they? It was strange considering that she hadn't even tried this when he had stolen her boat and from the way he saw it Ana had more cause to be angry at him then as compared to now. Nevertheless, he had come for a purpose and Jack would not let the gut twisting stare Ana was giving him shake him from that.

"Then I shall keep this short, sweet, and to the point, savvy?"

Anamaria crossed her arms, her mouth curved down into a pout that brought on the impulse to kiss her, but seeing as exactly that had got him into this situation in the first place and he knew that if he did he would be sporting her handprint on his cheek for days, Jack controlled himself.

"My person has been noticing a distinct lack of your company on deck for the past few days." Jack began trying once again to soften her demeanor with a charming smile but she only raised one brow at him and he fidgeted nervously.

"And being that I _am_ captain of this ship and the wellbeing of the crew is a part of my duties I can't help but wonder why that is."

Anamaria sighed the tiniest bit impatiently "I've not been getting lax in my duties if that is what ye are worried about captain. Master Gibbs can back me up on that."

_Ah, so we want to play coy, ey? _

Jack narrowed his eyes just a bit, taking a few steps closer to Ana and she inadvertently moved back her exasperation falling away to be replaced by a guarded air that showed plainly in her eyes as she stared up at him.

"Aye, ye 'ave still been the most able bodied seaman aboard the _Pearl _but your spirits not there. Ye've been distancing yourself from the crew." _And me._

"The crew had very well best get used to not having me about. I'm sure they aren't missing me company that much."

Jacks eyes widened at that he snorted, exasperated "Ana, you're not still on about leaving the crew are you?"

The pirate woman's eyes flashed and she took a step closer to him "I have every intention of leaving the crew the next time this ship makes berth Captain Sparrow." Anamaria's voice was deliberately cold and this time when she referred to him as captain it didn't bring on as much satisfaction as it usually did. Jack stared at her in wide-eyed surprise and some of the heat left her gaze and she looked at something over his shoulder. "I told you that before." Ana continued in a softer tone, her voice carrying something that he couldn't quite place.

Jack Sparrows mind was working in overtime as he processed that. Despite what she might have been thinking he hadn't forgotten the conversation he and Ana had a few days ago the night of the celebration despite all of the rum he had consumed then and up till now. He had passed off her mentions of leaving and no longer being a pirate as a passing fancy that she would forget about almost as soon as she brought it up.

Of course, he _had _been drunk then. Now he could recall the quiet seriousness in those pretty dark eyes along with another emotion just under the surface, hidden from him so that he could not place it.

Knowing that now Jack was forced to realize, blasted stirrings or not…he was _fond _of Anamaria and her presence aboard _The Black Pearl_ had become as familiar to him as the way his _Pearl _swam with the waves or the quiet creaking of her timber.

From a captains perspective Anamaria was an asset that he didn't wish to lose. From that of a friend he didn't want to lose her, just because she was Anamaria.

Jack cleared his thoughts with an exaggerated wave of his hand "From what I remember I told you that I would not be losing ye from my crew, savvy?"

Anamaria was incredulous "Ye can't make me stay against my will!"

She had a point there. Didn't mean that he had to let her know that, now did it?

Grinning wolfishly, Jack eyed Anamaria up and down in a way he knew would make her blood boil and then gestured loosely at himself. "Pirate."

Ana's jaw tightened and at her side her hand edged toward the hilt of one of the cutlasses that she had tucked into the sash around her waist. At the last minute she seemed to change her mind and instead her hand flashed forward and connected to his cheek in a loud clap that had several of the crew glancing their way and felt every bit as painful as it sounded.

When Jack finished blinking tears from his eyes he went cross-eyed as he found the dreaded finger pointed at him.

"I hate you, Jack Sparrow." She hissed at him while he cringed in fear of another slap before pivoting and stalking off towards the crews quarters.

"If only ye meant that, darlin."


	3. Authors Note

_Ah, yes. The dreaded authors note. As you can see I have deleted the previous chapter three and the reason is because I see no point in forcing something that was never intended to be a multi-chaptered story and was originally supposed to be a one or two shot. _

_There was no plot beyond the first two chapters and I feel like the story is lacking personality. I hope I haven't disappointed/ pissed you off too badly but I hope that you can accept it as it was originally supposed to be. _

_You can look forward to seeing more from me in the future that involves these two-maybe even a multi-chaptered Jack/Anamaria story with a little more foreplanning. _

_Besides that, there's been a lack of a creative spark for me lately. It's like I've run into a brick wall with my writing with ALL my work. _

_X Thank all of you SO much for your support. It means a lot to me, honestly. Hope you can forgive me as I know stories with this pair are hard to come by. _

_Love, WhatIsUnimagined. _


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